Stalwart of contemporary Tamil literature, C.S. Chellappa made Vâdivâçal, his masterpiece, a milestone in modern Tamil fiction because it introduces for the first time both a subject, the jallikkattu, a game of bull taming traditional for centuries but now almost extinct, and a new language, colored, dense, precise, loaded with a local dialect and vibrant with the inner dynamics of the village life. The zooming alternates between the show of the popular festival and the challenge between a bull extraordinary and the lives and honor of two generations, father and son, of bull tamers. The empathy of the author creates more emotion around the fight: “Once you have read those pages you won’t forget the bull, the man and the vâdivâçal. I am aware that I introduce you into a new world.” (C.S. Chellappa, preface)

Keywords

contemporary Tamil literature, C. S. Chellappa, French translation

About the author

C.S.Chellappa (1912-1998) writer, Gandhian, freedom fighter and a stalwart of contemporary Tamil literature he spent his life writing. His journal Ezhutu (1959-1970) played a crucial part in modern Tamil writing and criticism. Born in a village of bull tamers, his passion for jallikkattu is reflected in this novella now rightly recognized as a masterpiece.

François Gros, former Director of Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études and former Director of École Française d’Extrême-Orient is a specialist in classical Tamil Studies (Kural Pitam Award 2008-2009) but has an equal interest in contemporary Tamil Literature and its recent developments.